Motor vehicles are used to transport raw materials and manufactured goods from one point to another. Heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks are employed in moving these items along interstate highways and through urban and city streets. Commuters utilize automobiles, pick up trucks, and buses in traveling to and from work. Errands are completed as the family van or automobile carries family members to church, school, recreational activities, and to shopping centers. Without safe, dependable motor vehicles, life in most of the world's economically strong and dynamic countries would be dramatically different.
One aspect that all motor vehicles have in common is that they all need some type of engine to make them perform, powered by diesel, gas or the new breed of hybrid-powered vehicles. The stress placed on running an engine causes wear and tear on its working parts. Eventually the engine will break down and will be in need of repair. The repair may be from as simple as a needed tune-up, to as complicated as completely rebuilding the entire engine.
One component of a vehicle that often needs repair or replacing is the clutch assembly. Removing or repairing this component is difficult and often takes a great deal of time and energy. A clutch assembly on a heavy truck or other large vehicle or machine, for example, may comprise multiple parts, such as a pressure plate, connecting studs, a diaphragm spring, a through-out bearing, and a clutch housing, and may weigh over one hundred and fifty pounds. The size and weight of such a clutch assembly makes it awkward, strenuous, and potentially dangerous to lift into place. Therefore tools have been created to assist with the installation of such a clutch assembly, as well as for other engine components such as flywheels.
A common tool for such a clutch assembly for a heavy truck is a clutch installation jack on wheels and with a projecting spline. A mechanic places the spline through the central hole in the clutch assembly, uses the jack to raise the clutch assembly off the ground, and then rolls the jack into the proper position under the truck for installation of the clutch assembly.
However, the use of a clutch installation jack has a number of disadvantages that make it relatively inefficient and expensive. It requires that the truck requiring the clutch be raised off the ground, through additional, expensive tools such as a hydraulic lift or an additional jack, high enough to allow the clutch installation jack to be rolled into the proper position. The mechanic must manually push the heavy clutch assembly and the clutch installation jack into exactly the proper position for installation, which is awkward and sometimes difficult to accomplish. Installing a clutch assembly with a clutch installation jack typically takes forty-five minutes or more, which is an unnecessarily long and therefore expensive amount of time for the job. Furthermore, a typical clutch installation jack costs about a thousand dollars, making it prohibitively expensive for many mechanics. As a result, many mechanics choose not to buy a clutch installation jack and instead lift the clutch assembly into place, which may save them time and money for extra tools but may cause the serious injuries.
Other tools have also been design to aid in clutch installation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,663 for Woodward provides the following tool:
“A clutch installation apparatus for raising heavy clutch components facilitates mounting of the components to a bell housing. The clutch installation apparatus includes a mounting plate that is removably mountable to a bell housing. The plate has a pair of slots extending therethrough. Fastening members are utilized to secure the plate to the bell housing. A pair of posts is fixedly coupled to the front surface of the plate. A pair of spools is rotatably coupled to the front surface of the plate. A strap extends between and is fixedly coupled to the spools. The strap is removably wound about the spools. A pair of couplers removably couples the strap to the clutch component. A pair of guide pins is releasably extendable through apertures in the bell housing. A ratcheting means selectively prevents rotation in a first direction and allows rotation in a second direction.”
This tool removes the need for a clutch assembly jack and uses the bell housing of the vehicle's engine as a source of support for lifting clutch assemblies. However, hoisting a clutch assembly, which may weigh over one hundred pounds, into position by means of this tool's strap is awkward, imprecise, and potentially dangerous.
Therefore, there is a need for a tool for installing clutch assemblies and other engine components on heavy trucks or other large machines that is easier and more efficient to use and less expensive.